Billy Joel - Building the Bridge (The Bridge EPK)

In 1986, Billy Joel released the album titled The Bridge on July 29th on Columbia Records. Go behind the scenes with Billy and learn about the songwriting and recording process behind the album.
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Listen to The Bridge album in full now
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Billy Joel's official KZbin channel features music videos, live performances, interviews, TV appearances and more. Best known for his first hit song, 'Piano Man', in 1973, Billy has written and recorded thirty-three Top 40 hits in the United States. He is a six-time Grammy Award winner, a 23-time Grammy nominee and one of the world's best-selling artists of all time, having sold over 150 million records worldwide. Billy Joel is the sixth-best-selling recording artist and the third-best-selling solo artist in the United States.

[@kevinnelson66]

Rest in peace, Doug Stegmeyer and Phil Ramone. You guys are missed. Phil always seemed like an overgrown kid in the studio.

[@bcdrummer1962]

Come on man, as soon as the tune kicks in it’s like….. LIBERTY. Dude. This guy is one of the most distinct musicians in pop music, period.

[@Hammett175]

"This is the Time" and "Baby Grand" are solid.

[@luvmenow33]

Matter of trust too.

[@narrabeenstudent7027]

William Fetters and big man on mulberry street

[@ytpmvsux]

the whole album

[@thetruth72667]

Running on ice, Baby Grand, Big man, Modern Woman....it’s a great album

[@scottishjohnInTexas]

His impression of Cyndi Lauper was awesome.

[@realpolitik2617]

Getting closer is a gem.

[@simonhodgetts6530]

I saw Billy Joel on his UK tour to promote this album. I was 14, and had just started to play piano and write songs in a school band. He opened with Angry Young Man, which blew me away. Several years later, I can play an approximation of it! Baby Grand is my go to piano try-out piece! I learnt pretty much all I know on piano from Billy Joel’s records. Awesome musician - although Turnstiles, Songs In The Attic and Streetlife Serenade are my favourite albums of his!

[@MattSmith-iq1ld]

Temptation......one of Billy's most underrated songs

[@danielhkhk7283]

Yes, love it.

[@shaunbat5097]

Great tune...

[@PianoMan-hx3ev]

Billy’s the reason I became a piano player. Period. 🎹

[@sherriehobson8727]

The Bridge is one of my favourite Billy Joel album. I love seeing this video of his recording sessions with Ray Charles and Steve Winwood. Billy is very funny guy.

[@GunjerSpinners]

I think i was 5 when this album came out. After a childhood of being brainwashed by my dad with all the familiar Billy Joel songs, this is the album i find myself coming back to the past few years. It's awesome. Man i wish i could see the man perform live. But a 7 hour flight and ticket to MSG is a bit too much for me. I'm glad they made these videos of him. I can listen to him talk for hours.

[@beegee1323]

Totally agree. The Bridge is probably the least known BJ album but it is my favorite one. Every song from start to finish is a masterpiece and any one of them could have been a single. Something about the nature of the songs make the album stand out to me. Unfortunately Billy seems to ignore this album during his live shows. He has talked about wanting to do more deep cuts live but he has to please his loyal, paying audience, who mostly want to hear the hits. Even so, the album did generate 4 singles with "This Is The Time" hitting #1 on Billboard AC. He seems to treat this record like an ugly stepchild which is a shame.

[@FJBCmonMan]

Billy Joel, you're such a boss it's actually insane lol.

[@realpolitik2617]

I love The Bridge album.

[@elizabethwitt2621]

Very underrated album. One of my faves.

[@johncopeland3826]

I will be 62 in a few days time and the voice and talent of the late , great Mr Ray Charles , still sends shivers all down my spine ... It's quite magical and I'm grateful for the privilege of knowing about his body of work throughout his long , incomparable career . All the best from Scotland .

[@scottharrison3391]

fascinating to see Billy at work

[@Bodyknowledge77]

As terrific a singer(especially songwriter) Billy when on the track "Baby Grand" Ray Charles's vocals come in its beautifully startling how powerfully emotive his voice is/was.

[@howtodoitdude1662]

He usually records his vocals live while performing the song. On this particular song, he overdubs his vocals. I think that has a lot to do with why he didn’t sound as strong or emotional on this recording.

[@collinjamesguitar]

This album has a total Police vibe to it! Billy was jamming' to some Sting, Summers, and Copeland I think. Badass!

[@kai326]

Running On Ice especially. The drumming and vocal style are obviously reminiscent of Stewart Copeland and Sting

[@howtodoitdude1662]

@@kai326 he did say Sting was in mind when he wrote it.

[@scottvelardo700]

This album is SO good. ❤️ RIP, Doug Stegmeyer. That brief shot of him looking distraught as someone takes him aside... 😢

[@patrickmichaellangan576]

Alexa Ray (who was born 2 months after me) and I were just babies when Billy did this record. My FAV songs from The Bridge are Running On Ice, This Is The Time, A Matter Of Trust, Big Man On Mulberry Street and Temptation.

[@CliffMcAulay]

Billy J is probably one of the last in the line of great American songwriters...In my opinion. Thank you for uploading this great doc.

[@phillipecook3227]

I think you're spot on. He bookends the Great American Songbook (arguably Irving Berlin is at the other end).

[@CliffMcAulay]

Thank you Phillipe, and maybe even a wee bit further back from Irving. Stephen Foster, and Charles k. Harris, W.C. Handy, and George M. Cohan. The great American songwriting tradition has given us some absolute beauties. @@phillipecook3227

[@celesasheldon6931]

Thank you Mr Joel for all the music ! Music is life saving

[@robertoetojo5861]

GENIUS . BEYOND BELIEF THIS MAN IS GIFTED..

[@bmoshareholderappleshareho855]

He was given the gift of songwriting.

[@MollyT119]

He doesn’t really talk about This Is The Time in these clips (even though it was a hit too), but has discussed it for his SiriusXM channel, where there’s a track-by-track look at The Bridge, among his other albums. He talks about it evolving as an “atmospheric wintertime song,” and capturing the loneliness of a place like the beach in the winter. He talks about the seagulls and the waves and how they evoke a certain sense of reflectiveness. That’s actually my favorite track on this entire album, and it’s never gotten old for me. Anything of his where he has prominent piano, lots of layers, a lot of imagery, and tells a story is always what hooks me. David Brown’s guitar certainly doesn’t hurt either, and adds just the right mood to that song. He wrote it in December 1985, the same month his oldest daughter Alexa was born. This album has a lot of strong emotion behind it, and you can hear it in his vocals. Becoming a father changed Billy forever, and he really showed an emotional vulnerability that we’d never seen in his work before, and it comes through lyrically (especially on a song like Temptation, which was about not wanting to be away from his daughter). He was ready to settle down and enjoy the stability he’d never experienced before in his life.

[@AnthonyRecenello]

is there a place i can listen to these albums commentaries somewhere on the internet?

[@opticscolossalandepicvideo4879]

He was already a step father to Elizabeth’s and Jon smalls son.

[@riverxvi9092]

i would just like to say that what billy did at 6:30 was pretty adorable come on admit it also fantastic album one of my favourites love you billy

[@AdamSandaver]

Enjoyed every second of that....

[@tristanfabriani616]

I love this album.

[@thedvdhole331]

1:00 heh... it’s a scene... FROM AN ITALIAN RESTURANT

[@vhs389]

This comment needs more likes

[@italianstallion9148]

@@vhs389 That person deserves no likes. Didn't even spell restaurant right.

[@cbseE9212]

@@italianstallion9148 pedant

[@kevinnelson66]

Winwood jamming on that Hammond organ. Wish I were a fly in the corner for that recording session.

[@rebeccacervantes8420]

We love you Billy!! Passionately!!

[@JayWhiteMadden]

“Code of Silence” is a super underrated gem of a track. It easily had a catchy enough chorus to be a radio hit, and especially with both Billy and Cindi’s popularity at the time, it would’ve had to try really hard NOT to be a hit.

[@cyric2010]

Agreed. I love that song. Its so easy to listen to.

[@celesasheldon6931]

Yeap

[@miknes12345]

He was so handsome back then....

[@nolitoladignon8531]

..fantastic billy joel...my idol!

[@davidnorman4923]

Real talent at work in the studio! Love Billy Joel music! Great band too!

[@sidowninc]

What an amazing piece of film, Joel is a true ambition of a musician. Not only for the talent and discipline he posses... But for his modesty.

[@kevinnelson66]

sidowninc Looked like they had a lot of fun in the studio, too.

[@tenbroeck1958]

Cyndi Lauper is awesome. Such a cool story that I never heard before. Also, Baby Grand should be a part of the American Songbook, along with Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Dylan.

[@phillipecook3227]

A few years ago I watched a video of BJ and off the top of his head he improvised a short bit of plausible Mozart pastiche on the piano. I sat up and took notice. Watching this makes me want to run out and listen to every damn thing he's ever recorded in a studio.

[@lpgft]

this was a great album , I remember I had the cassette tape !

[@scottharrison3391]

I wore out mine.

[@bmoshareholderappleshareho855]

@@scottharrison3391 That's the beauty of CDs. They do not wear out. They are designed to last a lifetime under normal use.

[@MillerGenuineDraft1980]

As a hardcore CD collector i second that.

[@ms.capricorn4540]

Excellent album.

[@largolegato]

Only piano lover understands piano lover 😊 You're undoubtedly the Piano Man, Billy.

[@davideminosa2632]

Code of Silence is an incredible Cyndi Lauper vocal performance, beautiful song

[@Margocarr]

Fantastic. One of the best albums Billy ever made.

[@newdamage5945]

Yes and very underrated.

[@000coolkid9]

5:21 that’s funny, I love Billy joel so much, he makes me very happy great artist, my fav artist

[@aubreytowser]

genius!

[@lpgft]

yes, he is indeed !

[@coolcat6303]

Cool video about my fav Billy Joel album. I heard that he's actually not real fond of it anymore though. Probably becuz of all the synth on certain songs. But I still think it's one of his finest albums & has some of his best written songs. I especially liked "Matter of Trust", "This is the Time", "Baby Grand" & "Code of Silence".

[@patrickmichaellangan576]

+KoolCat ! Billy himself mentioned that, especially not being fond of "Modern Woman".

[@coolcat6303]

Patrick Langan Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. It's the most dated sounding song on the album. But its still kinda fun to listen to on occassion.

[@patrickmichaellangan576]

KoolCat ! yes the mid 80s synths on much of this album aren't for everyone; especially if they don't want a chance to miss the 80s, but I still like 'em on some of this album myself.

[@fratertenc7589]

+Patrick Langan Yeah it is what it is - it reflects the pop rock trends of the time I think, and actually a lot of the songs are pretty damn good. Temptation is one I like playing... that sort of G C/G in the main riff/intro is simple but the drop down to a sort of E7(+5 and regular)/G# i think makes it really cool

[@johnvargo7338]

"This is the Time"!!!!

[@js1zzle]

"i can play guitar, badly, but just as good as heavy metal players"

[@hgpo27]

not as heavy metal players, as a lot of.

[@timepoet77]

He’s not a bad guitar player at all.

[@carlbaumeister3439]

Funny, bc even though I'm not a big fan of heavy metal, I think they are technically some of the best musicians.

[@kevinnelson66]

@@carlbaumeister3439 Alot of the heavy metal musicians are actually classically trained.

[@carlbaumeister3439]

@@kevinnelson66 Very true. And while I say I'm not a big fan of metal, I DO like some of the neoclassical stuff. For instance, Joe Satriani is one of my favorite musicians, because he combines the feel of someone like SRV or BB King, with the great technical prowess of a classically-trained guitarist.

[@howtodoitdude1662]

What a voice on Modern woman!

[@krisscanlon4051]

This lp and Nylon Curtain are real sleepers in his canon

[@srtjhsrzdfhkgdf9961]

レコーディング風景が見られてよかったです。ありがとうございます。

[@redemptiongoes6030]

15:32 makes me feel so happy. Good thing Liberty practiced hard.

[@1060michaelg]

Did anyone else notice that when he was playing on synthesizer, Billy was really playing what would become "Blonde over Blue"? It happens at 6:07.

[@nickhancock1594]

1060michaelg It’s the chords from the sax solo/bridge in Modern Woman. It does sound very similar to Blonde over Blue though.

[@user-fn8rp2qx9n]

At 8:53, Billy starts to sing a little part of the Beatles song ‘’She’s a woman’’!!! I just loved it, it was kind of a follow-up, The Beatles did ‘’She’s a woman’’ and Billy does ‘’She’s a modern woman’’!!!

[@melodiemaker2121]

Really GREAT 💖🌸🐬🌳 GENIUS!!!💖

[@danielhkhk7283]

Love Temptation.

[@brettkoeshall2325]

Billy Joel back in 1986.

[@ianwatkins6202]

The brilliant Billy!!!!!

[@TonysMusic1974]

all these years I never noticed that Billy has a slight lisp. He's still the frickin' man!

[@AnthonyRecenello]

i think it was an affect

[@patrickmitchell7351]

The legend!!!

[@Legoflymaster89]

I love Ruthless People!

[@ootoobings]

Liberty DeVitto. Flawless.

[@ycplum7062]

Just had this image pop into my head while watching this. You know how some actor would go up to a director and ask, "what is my motivation in this scene?" I can see the draft of a song asking Billy Joel the same thing, and Billy Joel telling teh song its backstory and what he wants the song to convey. LOL

[@ms.capricorn4540]

Many great songs/albums composed in the 1980s.

[@carlbaumeister3439]

The early version of Modern Woman really rocks! Apparently, this is Billy's least favorite album (bc he felt unprepared to do it, pressured by the record company to make it), but I like it quite a bit.

[@howtodoitdude1662]

He also dislikes Steerlife Serenade. He says it was half baked.

[@carlbaumeister3439]

@@howtodoitdude1662 I hadn’t heard that, but I believe it. It DOES have some really good songs, such as Los Angelinos (my fav on the album), Root Beer Rag, and Souvenir.

[@thelevisullivan]

This is how Modern Woman should have sounded. I like what’s on the album but this version rocks harder!

[@drakestudio100]

Really nice Docu!! I hope the Shades of Grey Docu also is coming online :D

[@darrellborder8555]

"Just don't hear much piano anymore"...Welcome to the 2010-present....piano used all the time in YT vids, sad scenes in most movies, tv ad spots.

[@robertoetojo5861]

Classy..Elegant.. and UNCLE RAY WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT? ALL CLASS HARD TO BEAT.. AND REMAIN HUMBLE

[@Legoflymaster89]

7:15

[@newdamage5945]

Code of Silence..say no more. But there are many greats on this album.

[@mabe_productions]

Thanks for this. I really enjoy it and learn from it as a musician. 😊

[@robertoetojo5861]

This Mulberry street is NYC.. BOLD.. LOUD..COOL...

[@m.chanderbahn.r.pharm.3219]

Steve Winwood.👍🏼

[@Adventurepil0t]

A big hit at the time but it's funny how it got lost over the years. Stations would play stuff off innocent man and storm front but rarely the bridge

[@gillianbroughton3194]

Ur an interesting chap🧙🏼‍♂️Billy. Ha haa❣️My 🤴🏼Billy.

[@anshuldinger1425]

8:55 She's a Woman by the Beatles

[@femwynn6292]

?

[@thedys70]

AD - good pick up bro!

[@duncangarnett1976]

Close... But a lot faster 😁

[@dtimm612]

Can anyone tell me where the animated cartoon of Billy is from @ 12:40? I've never seen that before

[@chrismanzoni3586]

It's from the music video to the song "Pressure" from the Nylon Curtain.

[@kevinnelson66]

Christopher M. I've noticed the animated sequence has been cut from Pressure here on YT.

[@JackFirneno]

@@kevinnelson66 It was cut on the "Essential Billy Joel" DVD, too. I haven't seen it since I had it on VHS from the 80s.

[@PearlOfTheQuarter23]

Damn Billy diss on metal guitarists!!

[@scottharrison3391]

Too bad that this was the last time he used his old band for recording.

[@xXTomokoKurokiXx]

Rest in peace, Doug. You were a lot more important than Joel made you out to be. At least Devitto and Joel finally managed to reconcile recently.

[@prettyshinyspaghetti8332]

​@@xXTomokoKurokiXxdid they really?

[@opticscolossalandepicvideo4879]

He played a part in dougies suicide

[@connorahrens5068]

The best Joel album!

[@edwardvalentino3835]

My dad grew upon Mulberry

[@lunamai5668]

love it when he talks Chinese so funny XD

[@chrismanzoni3586]

Can't believe how good this non-synth version of Modern Woman is - infinitely superior to the finished product.

[@thelevisullivan]

I like the version that’s on the album but it feels dull compared to this one. This version rocks harder!

[@jamesdamico9284]

This one definitely better then album version

[@cancontrl]

RIP the day that artists and average folk could afford to live in major US City.

[@Sean-me4fv]

+cancontrl What about Detroit?

[@kai326]

Detroit isn't worth living in. It's a complete dump, and it's slowly becoming a landfill

[@dadduorp]

It’s always been that way. If there weren’t people who couldn’t afford to live in a major city, we wouldn’t have poor, uneducated ones living in the flyover states. And Trump wouldn’t have been elected President.

[@rusty1491]

Analogous to the bridge in a song his career being 3/4ths over.

[@seanscanlon9067]

His recording career, maybe.

[@darren.plateroti]

Anyone know the song starting at 14:34 with Steve Winwood? Been looking for years.

[@pbeadsnyc1014]

Empty Pages, Traffic

[@darren.plateroti]

P Beads Thank you very, very much for the reply. Had figured it was something by Traffic, but never did enough deep-digging.

[@simonhodgetts6530]

Getting Closer is my favourite track on the album - Steve Winwood and BJ was a good match - wish they’d done more together!

[@danvickers3211]

What was with rays leg at 4:39

[@ColleenCupido]

Well, my 18 year old Dad in WW II had as pin ups Rita Hayworth and Hedy Lammarr.....

[@bgg5090]

Wow, he's a cocky bastard, but god damn, he's talented.

[@allencollins6031]

Until The Night

[@bmoshareholderappleshareho855]

That's from 52nd Street.

[@timwright4263]

I love 'She's Such a Temptation' but the saxophone dates it.

[@ms.capricorn4540]

Musicians tend to be self-critical, especially if they had a critical Musician father.

[@rasmusherskind8419]

What's that thing at 6:07? That didn't make it on to the record? It sounds quite interesting!

[@BUSTA11]

Rasmus Herskind That was the base for "Modern Woman"

[@rasmusherskind8419]

Thanks :)

[@ChipGreene]

It's the harmony (chords) for the bridge of Modern Woman.

[@amazed66]

Sounds a bit like the soon to come, Blonde Over Blue from the River of Dreams album a few years later.

[@duncangarnett1976]

It seemed to me that having Steve Winwood working with Billy Joel was like Billy Preston working with The Beatles on Let It Be

[@TheSkirvo]

Billy has said he was never happy with some of the songs on that album . Personally I don't see that . There is Only one song I don't care for much and that is code of silence

[@m.chanderbahn.r.pharm.3219]

Mocking Cyndy Lauper😂😆😂. ...Did I misspell her name?

[@femwynn6292]

mimicking.

[@femwynn6292]

and it's cyndi.

[@faithcurrent658]

He wasn't mocking her. Billy is a natural mimic (which is one of his struggles, I think).

[@townbeach3603]

Time out you and two piano

[@stephenvierling2287]

No need to throw shade at heavy metal Billy. This was the same year Master of Puppets cam out. Try playing that album on guitar.

[@ColleenCupido]

It is NOT that I hate Cyndi, but I use her as a symbol of the hatred of a political agenda that calls Any femininity Girly Girl and laughable, which raises me to Fury. Time after Time is probably my favorite Lauper song. If it makes Cyndi feel better, I got on trouble with same issue of Boy George and Culture Club...a fine musician

[@decacards5250]

Billy at 37.

[@RedTV8888]

10:23 Easily the most ignorant thing I've ever heard Billy say

[@seanscanlon9067]

I am guessing it was said very much tongue in cheek despite the deadpan delivery and he did only say a lot rather than any.

[@charlieaaronmusic2396]

He has a point

[@Sapp440]

Probably his weakest album, but a neat video.

[@charlieaaronmusic2396]

Nah, street life serenade is his weakest, followed by river of dreams

[@seanscanlon9067]

@@charlieaaronmusic2396 Cold Spring Harbor.

[@charlieaaronmusic2396]

@@seanscanlon9067 I actually forgot about that one haha

[@seanscanlon9067]

@@charlieaaronmusic2396 It does have a couple of decent songs on it like Everybody Loves You Now and She's Got a Way and the rest of the songs are not exactly bad songs, but just more filler tracks than usual and weaker than some of his other songs. It was his debut solo album and he was only 22 years old at the time though.

[@emmanuelgonzalez9823]

He can't play guitar :/

[@scottharrison3391]

like he said - as well as some heavy metal guitarists

[@howtodoitdude1662]

Watch the Russia concert documentary. He plays ‘the times are a changing’ on guitar. Not bad at all!

[@seanscanlon9067]

@@howtodoitdude1662 He can strum a chord or two perhaps.

[@barnabascee1889]

Is this song the Letterman theme song from when he was on NBC?

[@prettyshinyspaghetti8332]

XD it reminded me of Letterman too! But no, this was 1986, and Letterman's show debuted in '82